A Survey of the Golden Jackal in India: Join this community-driven effort

The Nature Conservation Foundation has initiated a community-driven survey to know the status of the Golden Jackal in India. For those uninitiated about the Golden Jackal, their site quotes:

Although the Golden Jackal (Canis aureus) occurs widely in India, we actually know very little about this animal. In this project, we are trying to learn a few simple, but important things about jackals.

If you have ever spotted a jackal in India, then head over to this site and let them know. The project aims to answer certain important questions about the jackal distribution in this country. It seeks answers for questions like “Where jackals are found today? Where were they found in the past? In the places where they occur, are they seen as often today as they were in the past? What threats do they face?” based on the information that the community shares.

The data collected from this project will be used to put together a map showcasing the habitats of these jackals. It will also help in finding trends in jackal populations in India and in assessing any potential threats to these habitats. All this data, once compiled will be published as a publicly available report.

Image of the Golden Jackal above courtesy: Kalyan Varma, who, I must say, is one of the best wildlife photographers out there. (And of course I must also add that I had the privilege of being his college-mate a decade ago).